The Desert Sessions
The Desert Sessions are a series of albums and a side project of Josh Homme. Rather than an actual band it's more of a collective of musicians though a collective band have played live on two separate occasions. History The Desert Sessions began in August 1997 at the Rancho De La Luna in Joshua Tree when Homme brought together musicians from the bands Monster Magnet, Goatsnake, earthlings?, Kyuss (his own band, which had split in 1995) and Soundgarden. The ranch is an old house filled to the brim with rare and unique recording equipment and instruments and was owned by Dave Catching and the late Fred Drake. Songs are written "on the spot", often in a matter of hours. Many stories have grown around the Sessions. For example, the song "Creosote" from Volumes 9 & 10 was written by Dean Ween and Alain Johannes on the ranch's front porch within four minutes of meeting each other. Similarly, Chris Goss and PJ Harvey wrote the song "There Will Never Be A Better Time" for I See You Hearin' Me after going out onto the porch of the ranch for four minutes with an acoustic guitar; they re-entered the house and recorded the song in one take, the only time the song was ever played by the collective. The first Desert Session was not actually a "session" per se, but Homme and his band at the time (The Acquitted Felons) playing for three days straight on psychedelic mushrooms. Since then, the Desert Sessions attained a notable reputation growing in intensity and artistic merit. The Desert Sessions have only performed live twice. The live incarnation, which included Joey Castillo, Troy Van Leeuwen, Brian O'Connor, Josh Homme as well as a variety of musicians performing different songs, have performed on an episode of the British music television show Later... with Jools Holland as well as the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in 2004. Many songs from The Desert Sessions would be re-worked for future Queens of the Stone Age albums. Josh Homme has expressed interest in releasing a box set of the first ten volumes along with more Desert Sessions in the future. On 3 May 2019 on the Queens of the Stone Age Instagram a picture of a horse and a bird is shared with Josh asking “I wonder if anyone’s been recording in the desert?” before adding the hashtags #desert #sessions #11 and #12, possibly hinting at a new Desert Sessions release.Kerrang! On 13 September 2019 it would be announced that new Desert Sessions recordings are confirmed, set for an October release via Matador Records. the latest session, which took place in Joshua Tree, California late last year, found Homme working with ZZ Top's Billy Gibbons, Primus' Les Claypool, Jack White drummer Carla Azar, Warpaint drummer Stella Mozgawa, the Scissor Sisters signer Jake Shears and more. These two new volumes will feature eight new songs.Loudwire Discography Original EPs * Volume 1: Instrumental Driving Music For Felons (1997) * Volume 2: Status: Ships Commander Butchered (1998) * Volume 3: Set Coordinates For The White Dwarf!!! (1998) * Volume 4: Hard Walls and Little Trips (1998) * Volume 5: Poetry for the Masses (SeaShedShitheadByTheSheSore) (1999) * Volume 6: Black Anvil Ego (1999) * Volume 7: Gypsy Marches (2001) * Volume 8: Can You See Under My Thumb? There You Are. (2001) * Volume 9: I See You Hearin' Me (2003) * Volume 10: I Heart Disco (2003) Compilation Albums * Volumes 1 & 2 (1998) * Volumes 3 & 4 (1998) * Volumes 5 & 6 (1999) * Volumes 7 & 8 (2001) * Volumes 9 & 10 (2003) * Volumes 11 & 12 (2019) Members & Contributors * Josh Homme - All Volumes * Fred Drake - Volumes 1 - 8 (Died 2002) * Dave Catching - Volumes 1 - 6, 9 - 10 * Brant Bjork - Volumes 1 - 2, 5 - 6 * Alfredo Hernández - Volumes 1 - 4 * Pete Stahl - Volumes 1 - 4 * Ben Shepherd - Volumes 1 - 4 * John McBain - Volumes 1 - 4 * Nick Oliveri - Volumes 3 - 6 * Mario Lalli - Volumes 3 - 6 * Larry Lalli - Volumes 3 - 4 * Jesse Hughes - Volumes 3 - 4 * Craig Armstrong - Volumes 3 - 4 * Loo Balls - Volumes 3 - 4 * T. Fresh - Volumes 3 - 4 * Blag Dahlia - Volumes 5 - 6 * Gene Trautman - Volumes 5 - 6 * Barrett Martin - Volumes 5 - 6 * Adam Maples - Volumes 5 - 6 * Teddy Quinn - Volumes 5 - 6 * Tony Mason - Volumes 5 - 6 * Chris Goss - Volumes 7 - 10 * Alain Johannes - Volumes 7 - 10 * Natasha Shneider - Volumes 7 - 8 (Died 2008) * Mark Lanegan - Volumes 7 - 8 * Brendon McNichol - Volumes 7 - 8 * Samantha Maloney - Volumes 7 - 8 * Nick Eldorado - Volumes 7 - 8 * PJ Harvey - Volumes 9 - 10 * Troy Van Leeuwen - Volumes 9 - 10 * Joey Castillo - Volumes 9 - 10 * Dean Ween - Volumes 9 - 10 * Josh Freese - Volumes 9 - 10 * Jeordie White - Volumes 9 - 10 * Brian O'Connor Volumes 9 - 10 References Category:Band Category:Desert Rock Category:The Desert Sessions Category:Josh Homme Category:California Category:USA Category:Palm Desert Category:Man's Ruin Records Category:Southern Lord Records Category:Rekords Rekords Category:Ipecac